Wooley walked into the shop and asked, "What's on the board, today?"
"Well," I replied, "I was hoping you could jump on your bike and make a run with a guy to Tennessee. I was going to go but the lawyers called and Veggie and I have to be at Burnup and Singed Attorneys At Law this afternoon to sign a bunch of paperwork."
"What kind of paperwork?"
"Veggie and I have decided to sign all our Wackemall Inc stock over to Us Machine and Motorcycle."
"You're giving our little motorcycle shop controlling interest in an entire corporation?" Wooley asked.
"Well it's not like Wackemall is making money hand over fist and it is located in our little motorcycle shop."
"But why would you give it up? You know we can't afford to pay you for it."
"And you're not going to have to pay us for it," I added. "Veggie and I were talking and since Jason is dead now and Veggie never had any heirs we've nobody to leave it to. But you, Donny and Steve all have kids who might want to take over the empire someday. It just seemed like the thing to do."
"Okay," Wooley said, "if we ever get an empire. So why am I riding to Tennessee?"
"Adam Farmer called me the other day with a deal on a very rare 1939 Kuro Hagane..."
"A Kuro what?" Wooley asked.
"A Kuro Hagane," I answered. "They were Japanese copies of Harley-Davidsons built in a plant built in Japan by Harley-Davidson. The plant got bombed during World War 2 and there hasn't been one made since 1945."
"So what are we going to do with it?" Wooley asked?
"Restore it."
"But we don't restore motorcycles," Wooley complained. "We lose our ass on every restoration we do."
"Adam does restorations."
"So let this Adam dude buy it," Wooley said. "Who is this guy anyway?"
"An old friend," I answered, "Someone I've known for going on 40 years."
"So what's the deal here?" Wooley asked.
"Well Adam doesn't have enough money to buy and restore the old bike on his own so I offered for us to go in with him, have it shipped back here where there's a little more security than down at his place then when it's done we'll sell it and split the profit between our shop and his shop."
"I guess we don't have that much money either?" Wooley asked.
"No way," I replied. "Besides, Adam is an old friend who taught me a lot when I was first starting out. Enjoy your trip to Tennessee. You've been dying for some time in the saddle."
"Oh, I'm going to like that part," Wooley said, "Let me run by the house and stuff a few things in my saddlebags."
"Take your time," I said, "Adam will be here for lunch then you can leave out."
I spent a lot of that morning thinking about Jason and how I'd blamed his mother for his diabetes, kidney failure and eventual heart attacks due to the obesity she never tried to keep under control. And yet it wasn't all her fault. Jason grew up in the 80s where there were no warnings on foods to tell us they were full of hormones or genetically modified. Monsanto and the other multinationals that Veggie and I had fought for years were every bit as guilty as his mother. Even more so. They knew what was in that food and kept it a secret.
I had long thought about taking up the fight where Veggie and I had left off all those years ago but even Veggie agreed we'd accomplished nothing except to get ourselves almost killed on too many an occasion. Not that we hadn't had some good times but good times can be had without spending your life at war. I considered trying to raise funds to build an army of eco warriors to destroy fields of genetically modified crops before they could go to harvest or reseed themselves but who am I to send young men to die? And yes, if armies started attacking fields of amber grain you can bet many would die. War is a young man's choice and for too long, old men like myself have been choosing war for young men. If young men want war for a just cause then I say have at it, I'll even help to arm you, but I'll not be the one to send you off to war-- ever. My own scars, physically and emotionally, run too deep to push anyone into battle.
Just remember: if you do go to war, the public's perception of how you fight and how you pick your battles will be what ultimately wins or looses your war. Veggie was stopped by Monsanto but in the end public perception was on Veggie's side.
Wooley wasn't too certain about riding off to another state with someone he'd never before met but I assured him that he had nothing to worry about from Adam as I'd known Adam most of my life. Adam was going to be carrying a lot of cash and was simply concerned about traveling that far by himself. We would have sent the Wild Salsa Gang with him but they had landed a paying gig looking after some princess on some island somewhere. The last I talked to Lynyrd they were all annoyed that they were already on the island and waiting for the ship to arrive with their real motorcycles as the scooters everyone on the island rode were about 1200 cubic centimeters smaller than what they were used to riding.
After lunch we filled Adam and Wooley's bikes with Bryan's new Kudzu Super Fuel which we had all been testing for several weeks. "Boy, is Adam going to be surprised when he turns on the throttle," Wooley said.
"Is it really that good?" Adam asked.
"Oh yeah," Steve said, "It's really that good."
"But you're going to be really disappointed on the way back," Donny said walking out from the shop.
"Why's that?" Adam asked.
"Cause we'll have to run regular pump gas to get back home," Wooley laughed. We all laughed together as the two of them rode away.
After a couple of hours of riding west on Interstate 40, Adam and Wooley left the main roads to follow the back roads, take in some scenery and a much desired smoke break. As he was lighting up his cigarette, Wooley asked, "So what does Kuro Hagane mean anyway?"
"It means, black iron," Adam replied, "and they were only made available to high ranking Japanese military officers as sidecar rigs meant to elevate the officers above the rest of the other motorcycle riders in military processions. Anyone shorter than 6'-6" tall couldn't even touch the ground when seated on one so most were never ridden without the sidecars attached."
"And the plant really got blew up during the war?"
"I'm told it was a casualty of the first atomic bomb," Adam replied.
"Wow."
Continue to Twisties.
"Well," I replied, "I was hoping you could jump on your bike and make a run with a guy to Tennessee. I was going to go but the lawyers called and Veggie and I have to be at Burnup and Singed Attorneys At Law this afternoon to sign a bunch of paperwork."
"What kind of paperwork?"
"Veggie and I have decided to sign all our Wackemall Inc stock over to Us Machine and Motorcycle."
"You're giving our little motorcycle shop controlling interest in an entire corporation?" Wooley asked.
"Well it's not like Wackemall is making money hand over fist and it is located in our little motorcycle shop."
"But why would you give it up? You know we can't afford to pay you for it."
"And you're not going to have to pay us for it," I added. "Veggie and I were talking and since Jason is dead now and Veggie never had any heirs we've nobody to leave it to. But you, Donny and Steve all have kids who might want to take over the empire someday. It just seemed like the thing to do."
"Okay," Wooley said, "if we ever get an empire. So why am I riding to Tennessee?"
"Adam Farmer called me the other day with a deal on a very rare 1939 Kuro Hagane..."
"A Kuro what?" Wooley asked.
"A Kuro Hagane," I answered. "They were Japanese copies of Harley-Davidsons built in a plant built in Japan by Harley-Davidson. The plant got bombed during World War 2 and there hasn't been one made since 1945."
"So what are we going to do with it?" Wooley asked?
"Restore it."
"But we don't restore motorcycles," Wooley complained. "We lose our ass on every restoration we do."
"Adam does restorations."
"So let this Adam dude buy it," Wooley said. "Who is this guy anyway?"
"An old friend," I answered, "Someone I've known for going on 40 years."
"So what's the deal here?" Wooley asked.
"Well Adam doesn't have enough money to buy and restore the old bike on his own so I offered for us to go in with him, have it shipped back here where there's a little more security than down at his place then when it's done we'll sell it and split the profit between our shop and his shop."
"I guess we don't have that much money either?" Wooley asked.
"No way," I replied. "Besides, Adam is an old friend who taught me a lot when I was first starting out. Enjoy your trip to Tennessee. You've been dying for some time in the saddle."
"Oh, I'm going to like that part," Wooley said, "Let me run by the house and stuff a few things in my saddlebags."
"Take your time," I said, "Adam will be here for lunch then you can leave out."
I spent a lot of that morning thinking about Jason and how I'd blamed his mother for his diabetes, kidney failure and eventual heart attacks due to the obesity she never tried to keep under control. And yet it wasn't all her fault. Jason grew up in the 80s where there were no warnings on foods to tell us they were full of hormones or genetically modified. Monsanto and the other multinationals that Veggie and I had fought for years were every bit as guilty as his mother. Even more so. They knew what was in that food and kept it a secret.
I had long thought about taking up the fight where Veggie and I had left off all those years ago but even Veggie agreed we'd accomplished nothing except to get ourselves almost killed on too many an occasion. Not that we hadn't had some good times but good times can be had without spending your life at war. I considered trying to raise funds to build an army of eco warriors to destroy fields of genetically modified crops before they could go to harvest or reseed themselves but who am I to send young men to die? And yes, if armies started attacking fields of amber grain you can bet many would die. War is a young man's choice and for too long, old men like myself have been choosing war for young men. If young men want war for a just cause then I say have at it, I'll even help to arm you, but I'll not be the one to send you off to war-- ever. My own scars, physically and emotionally, run too deep to push anyone into battle.
Just remember: if you do go to war, the public's perception of how you fight and how you pick your battles will be what ultimately wins or looses your war. Veggie was stopped by Monsanto but in the end public perception was on Veggie's side.
Wooley wasn't too certain about riding off to another state with someone he'd never before met but I assured him that he had nothing to worry about from Adam as I'd known Adam most of my life. Adam was going to be carrying a lot of cash and was simply concerned about traveling that far by himself. We would have sent the Wild Salsa Gang with him but they had landed a paying gig looking after some princess on some island somewhere. The last I talked to Lynyrd they were all annoyed that they were already on the island and waiting for the ship to arrive with their real motorcycles as the scooters everyone on the island rode were about 1200 cubic centimeters smaller than what they were used to riding.
After lunch we filled Adam and Wooley's bikes with Bryan's new Kudzu Super Fuel which we had all been testing for several weeks. "Boy, is Adam going to be surprised when he turns on the throttle," Wooley said.
"Is it really that good?" Adam asked.
"Oh yeah," Steve said, "It's really that good."
"But you're going to be really disappointed on the way back," Donny said walking out from the shop.
"Why's that?" Adam asked.
"Cause we'll have to run regular pump gas to get back home," Wooley laughed. We all laughed together as the two of them rode away.
After a couple of hours of riding west on Interstate 40, Adam and Wooley left the main roads to follow the back roads, take in some scenery and a much desired smoke break. As he was lighting up his cigarette, Wooley asked, "So what does Kuro Hagane mean anyway?"
"It means, black iron," Adam replied, "and they were only made available to high ranking Japanese military officers as sidecar rigs meant to elevate the officers above the rest of the other motorcycle riders in military processions. Anyone shorter than 6'-6" tall couldn't even touch the ground when seated on one so most were never ridden without the sidecars attached."
"And the plant really got blew up during the war?"
"I'm told it was a casualty of the first atomic bomb," Adam replied.
"Wow."
Continue to Twisties.
